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Gas Giant Dance Party
Fusillade says, "Decepticons, report current location and status." Smokestack says, "Scouting enemy position. Minimal broadcasting." Coldwar says, "Finishing AAR in grid Alpha starport- Over." Windshear says, "About to leave the repair bay -- main earth base, status; fully functional." Boomslang says, "RTB from weapon trials. What's up?" Fusillade chuckles throatily. "Nothing, yet." Astrotrain, totally the symbol of proper Decepticon discipline, "Whaddaya want?" Fusillade says, "Already got it, thank you." Blaster says, "Heads up Bots. We got a possible Decepticon scouting our turf. Don't recognize the voice, so it could be one of the new guys." Rodimus Prime says, "You got a lock on where?" Fusillade says, "Anyway who's bored? I'll arrange some completely unfair bouts in the training room. Could do it elimination style or free for all." Catechism says, "Ooooh." Windshear says, "Works for me" Blaster says, "'Fraid not. I'll keep my audios open but he's bein' cagey." Rodimus Prime says, "Well, it's not like we've got a lot of turf these days, so probably somewhere on Earth." Boomslang says, "I'm happy with completely unfair." Fanfare says, "Shall ah prepare tae launch seh?" Fusillade says, "Earth units otherwise not already engaged, RTB to Tetrahex and return to the training arena." Coldwar says, "Copy that." NCC Training Arena(#9189RntN) Contents: Boomslang(#3535) Galvatron(#3810) Catechism(#6792) Fusillade(#8775) Killpuncher - Training Drone(#9192) Obvious exits: Up leads to NCC Arena. Windshear arrives from the NCC Arena. Windshear has arrived. Humming to herself, Fusillade rocks back and forth on her double-thruster heels as she jabs her index fingers at the control console of the training arena. Glimpses of the parameters might be visible over her shoulder, one of which displays a scrolling menu of different planet types. She settles on 'gas giant', no great surprise for those that know her very well The main generators of the training room hum to life, starting to transform the walls, ceiling, and floor to a turgid mass of metallic hydrogen clouds and vicious hurricane-force winds, punctuated with concussive cracks of lightning easily ferrying 260 million volts, a full magnitude of power greater than those typically encountered on Earth. Coldwar arrives from the NCC Arena. Coldwar has arrived. Boomslang was crouching against the wall sharpening his knife, when suddenly he finds himself in a gas giant! There goes the wall and floor, hidden by semi-real holomaterial spaces. This is very disorienting. Windshear strolls in looking for some practice time and isnt really paying attention so anything but the enercig in his hand when suddenly hes kocked into the wall by hurricane force winds. *Smash*... he staggers back from the wall and looks out into someones obvious holographic settings here right now. "Give someone warning next time." he rasps as he fights the wind. Catechism is summoned by the siren song of grossly unfair fights. Perhaps Fusillade will have brought a Titanoboa with cobra prosthesis to sick on the new kids? But oh, this is even better! Catechism claps in glee and exclaims, "Storms from the Pit, slag yes!" Backfire arrives from the NCC Arena. Backfire has arrived. Fusillade clicks heels together, before hovering by the console in anticipation. She turns toward the door with a bit of a smirk to see who dares to show up, "Well, well, well, lets see who shows up so I can pair folks up..." She mmms to herself at the conehead as he was caught by surprise, and types in a few more commands, causing a dense grove of bladder trees to materialize in position, their slick olive green trunks bobbing and jostling against each other as the hydrogen buoys cause them to bob in front of the gathered Decepticons. An angry column of salmon thunderheads marches closer, thickening and compacting into a Stygian eggplant hue. She flahses a wicked, fanged grin as she hears Catechism's crow of enthusiasm. "Yeah? Like that?" Fusillade activates boot thrusters to stabilize herself in some of the gale overflow from the simulation roiling within the arena. Windshear stares at the new scenary after a side look at Catechism. Then he looks at Fusillade, "Whatever you have in mind.. bring it." he rumbles. Windy does love a good fight.. even if he can never seem to walk away from one after its over. Coldwar steps into the training facility and is likewise blasted by the rather forceful hurricane winds of the holographic setting. The air of stoicism within his gaze does not falter in the least however, and after a brief scan of the area he decides to make his way to one side of the entrance where the Decepticon Soldier snaps to attention briefly, salutes, and then assumes a parade rest. He's far too banged up to actually participate in the exercise, but when ordered to report by a superior- report he must. Catechism sweeps over to Fusillade and tries to give her a light tap on the arm, sounding absolutely delighted, "Like it? Darling, I /love/ it!" Few things please Catechism more than ridiculously bad flying conditions. She ratchets into jet mode, which is better equipped to deal with buffeting winds than her unaerodynamic robot mode is. Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is. Galvatron enters before Coldwar, and though he is a bit surprised to be immediately buffeted by the intense winds. However, as he is fully capable of flying in space or an atmosphere, he manages not to get whipped around by the powerful forces via the careful use of his boot thrusters. "Hm!" he mutters, wondering what his lackeys are up to. "Commander on deck!" Boomslang calls out, more for Fusillade's benefit than the competitors', and transforms to blast off after Catechism through the swirling, lightning-lit murk. With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Windshear sees Cate take off into this in alt mode and with a shrug, he transforms as well and flies into the mess. Bad flying conditions dont really bother him much either, in fact it can make for some pretty intersting 'evades' and horrible 'accidents' sometimes. But thats half the fun of it. "Bwa ha ha, awesome! I'll come along and referee, but let's see who's showed up here, mm? Let's see. ELIMINATION STYLE ENDURANCE MATCH!" Fusillade announces. "Catechism versus Boomslang, Windshear versus Backfire. Winners of each take on each other afterward! If there's anyone standing after all this! Haw haw! BAD flying conditions, some floating terrain for cover, and maybe a few more twists if I get too bored with seeing you knock heads together!" She frowns a bit at Coldwar's battered condition. "Coldwar, you may observe. Or participate after acquiring repairs. We can add in latecomers later." The 'unfair' ingredient in this fight seems to be 'Fusillade's whim'. She stiffens a bit when Galvatron enters, looking a bit ridiculous as a hydrocarbon rain starts blackening her form. Pretty boy Windshear transforms into a Cybertronian pyramid/Tetrajet. Backfire eyed Galvatron and Coldwar walking up the corridor, and as sneakily as possible (not very) crept up behind them. Rounding a corner, he barely notices their entrance into the Training Arena. "Hrmph, Lord Galvatron must be breaking in the new lad..." he mutters to himself, creeping up to the door. "Don't mind if I have a peak." he laughs, envisioning the torment their leader will inflict on the new arrival. Stepping through the door however, he's completely taken unawares and swept up into the hurricane force winds. "Wait, what?" Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight! "Already on it!" Boomslang replies gleefully, letting fly with an air-to-air missile which goes swerving through the apocalyptic storm in pursuit of Catechism's single (but fat) exhaust. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Aggressive. Space-Going B-1R Lancer tumbles and shimmies through the turbulent air to clonk against Backfire's helmet and shove him Windshear's direction. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes XF-35B Astral Lightning with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack! Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet laughs at Backfires confusion and then laughs even harder when Fusillade sends him his way in her own little way.. "Bring it Backfire." he says as he brings his weapons online. Combat: Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet misses Backfire with his Laser attack! Coldwar nods curtly to Fusillade, his hands still clasped behind his back as he stiffens ever so slightly when addressing his superior. "Yes, ma'am. I am afraid that my systems are going to require more time than an STO of this type will provide before I am in good enough shape to participate, however. I will observe," he states, though there is obviously the tiniest bit of regret in his tone likely missed by all but the most observant. Blast Off arrives from the NCC Arena. Blast Off has arrived. Blast Off strides haughtily into the room, peering at people critically. "Unfair fights, Fusillade?" A snide voice calls out over the buffeting winds, as the red spacer Redshift cruises into the volatile atmosphere. "Unfair for WHOM? Certainly not me, I've flown in REAL gas giants, your simulated one will be child's play for a proper Decepticon warrior!" His space-flight thrusters blast from his feet, holding him steady in the face of the dangeroud winds. Backfire fumbles through the air, still a bit dazed as to what the purpose of this simulation was. A swift kick in the aft later, and he's barreling at Windshear. "Executrix, what is the meaning of this!" he rasps out, narrowly avoiding a direct hit to his faceplate. Instead singed by the attack, the Seeker growls. "Windshear, you low life! I wasn't even ready!!" Transforming into his F-16 mode, Backfire tries his best to manuever through the area. <> he laughs, lining up Windshear with his nose cone ... machine-gun rasping off a couple of rounds. A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Combat: F-16 Falcon sets his defense level to Protected. The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. XF-35B Astral Lightning is slammed into by a Sidewinder, right off the bat, which is almost as bad as Galvatron being on deck! She takes evasive manuevers, darting off deeper into the storm, where millions of volts can dance around the Faraday cage that is her body. Knowing that Boomslang can vanish at any time, she makes hay while the sun shines, despite the lurid sky, and blasts back at him with her own member of the AIM familes. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with her AIM-120C AMRAAM attack! -1 Combat: F-16 Falcon misses Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet with his Ratta-tat Goes the Gat! (Disruptor) attack! Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet laughs and without thinking starts to do a barral roll in place but then tries to stop and the wind takes over from there. HAH! he rides with it and heads back toward Backfire, "Alls fair in war and training rooms, Backfire...Im waiti--" he sees the shot coming and cuts off his directional thrusters just enough to let the wind move him out of the attack. He strengthens his thrusters and head back toward Backfire, "Man that was horrible.." he rumbles humorously and fires again at the Seeker. Combat: Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet misses F-16 Falcon with his Laser attack! F/A-18 Super Hornet detects a radar-guided missile coming in and blows chaff, but a lateral lightning bolt blasts through the cloud of aluminum foil with a deafening KRAKOW and vaporizes the chaff cloud. The missile streaks through the gap and explodes just off Boomslang's starboard vertical stabilizer, shrapnel tearing holes through the flight surface. Compensating for it with his other stabilizer, he turns hard around the damaged stabilizer and tries to get out from under Catechism's seek cone so he can put his guns on her from the side. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes XF-35B Astral Lightning with his Autocannon (Pistol) attack! <> Fusillade transmits, making the flap-flap mouth motion with her hand in Redshift's direction. <> She remotely cues up some rapid, synthesized electronic music that sounds suspiciously like gabber. The pattern and frequency of cloud to cloud lighting strikes seem to quicken to match -- or was that could just be one's imagination? <> A few moments later, she adds, <> "... Well this was certainly unexpected." Blast Off had been looking to practice some sharpshooting, but upon walking into the training arena already in use finds it being simulated into a giant gaseous planet instead. Quickly he kicks off into the air before his feet are burned off or corroded by toxic winds or some such or he sinks into some poisonous storm or some such. Once he's safely above the volatile surface he folds his arms over his chest. "Has someone been snooping through my exoplanetary engagement files without asking again?" XF-35B Astral Lightning is blasted in the side, raked by bullets. She catches a fast current and lets it send her streaking away from Boomslang, enjoying the free boost. Then, hover-fan assisted, she side-slips and catches another stream, pivoting around 180 degrees to come right back at Boomslang with some retort of her own. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with her Explosive Retort attack! -4 <> Fusillade lies to Blast Off to instigate a match. <> F-16 Falcon flys as well as he can through the winds, fighting to stay right side up and moving forward. Suddenly, his energon levels drop dangerously low ... cutting power to his thrusters. <> he cries out, being sucked into the swirl of the gale. It does allow him to 'expertly' dodge the incoming fire however. Power levels leveling out, the Seeker increases engine capacities to rocket forward and lock onto Windshear. <> This time the simpleton unleashes some simple wing tipped laserfire upon the pretty boi. Galvatron folds his arms across his chest as he ascends above the fray. He smiles wickedly as the Decepticons set upon each other, but does not take part at the moment. That's not guaranteed to last, however, if someone "accidentally" shoots him. When the planet becomes a disco, however, he does become a bit confused by that. "What the Pit?..." Combat: F-16 Falcon misses Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet with his Wing Tipped Lazorz! (Laser) attack! <> Coldwar offers from the sidelines, silently observing the other Decepticon pairings and how they battle each other under the less than favorable conditions. A violent downdraft slaps down through the training room in a cold microburst, sending the floating rafts of hydrogen-buoyed trees and vines tumbling down hundreds of simulated feet. *BWAM* "Ducted exhaust! That's... well, that's unusual." Boomslang exclaims lamely as he recovers his flight path, airframe punched through in several places by fragments of missile warhead. Halfway through complaining about Catechism's unlikely maneuvers he decided that 'unfair' is a dumb thing to complain about since the whole point of this is that it should be unfair. With that in mind, he transforms, blasts straight up into a cloudbank, and does not appear to emerge therefrom! Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet does a wing stand and lets the laser blast slide on by then allows the wind to lift him up some -- wait it went too far and now hes got to keep from smashing into the celing. That takes a moment or two but he finally fights his way back down and heads toward Backfire again, "Curr? You are just jelous is all..." he fires at the Seeker again. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Combat: Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet misses F-16 Falcon with his Laser attack! Redshift transforms into his scythe-winged spacefighter mode, and careens through the roiling clouds, hoping his low profile and lakc of tailfins will help keep him from being too severely affected by the winds. <> He banks hard behind a dense bank of volatile vapours, and then he beginds to pull up to chase after the fleeing Blast Off. Hoping to catch the Combaticon unawares, he opens fire before declaring the bout, since getting a shot in while Blast Off's guard is down will be a big advantage. Redshift transforms into his sleek spacecraft mode and takes to the air. Combat: Red Spacecraft sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Red Spacecraft strikes Blast Off with his Laser attack! The microburst is accompanied by a sliding 'bwooooooooooooooo' techno sound. Blast Off hmphs softly. There's a good chance he can tell Fusillade is full of it at the moment... but a live target is so much more of a challenge than the idiotic, predictable drone. His heel-jets flare a bit as he continues to levitate farther upward. "I guess I should be pleased that at least -some- people are actually trying to learn proper astronomical tactics instead of leaving most of the work to us actual spacefarers." And then Redshift pops him in the shoulder with a laser shot, earning a bit more of a snort. "At least you're -trying-," he drawls sardonicly, followed by the familiar string of tones and shuffling parts as he reverts to his own spacecraft mode. Several small shots of energy are fired in Redshift's general direction, to keep the smaller craft busy as the shuttle banks aside and dives into some of the thicker clouds for cover. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Guarded. The Combaticon folds up, yet at the same time expands several times in side, extending wings and engines to become a space shuttle. Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Red Spacecraft with his Diversionary Strafing (Disruptor) attack! <> Backfire replies, swooping around and going into a spin to avoid the lasers. Transforming, he pours the reserve energy into the boot thrusters -just- to keep from flying wildly out of control. "Don't you ever get sick of that laser? All I ever see you do is laser laser laser! No wonder you're such a bore in conversation, you've no imagination on the field of battle either!!" he jests, pointing a hand at Windshear and unleashing a devastating blast of concentrated plasma. The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet with his Solar Assault attack! Combat: Backfire's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet . Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet 's Agility. (Crippled) Coldwar has left. The downdraft was but the start, as the storm front from the dark purple maelstrom lashes over the combatants. Fusillade settles down gingerly on one of the bladdertree groves, and bellows over the OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ toward Galvatron, explaining, "Helps with their timing!!!" She hrns to herself as she watches Backfire and Windshear scrabble at each other, Catechism and Boomslang exchange tremendous blows, and Blast Off and Redshift deftly maneuver through the upper levels of the atmosphere. XF-35B Astral Lightning cautiously follows Boomslang into the cloud, keeping her moves very erratic. She ponders turning back into a robot to reduce her cross-section, though she'll be blown by the winds moreso. Eventually, Catechism decides to do just that, her search unfruitful. XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. Combat: Catechism takes extra time to steady herself. Pass Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet gets hit head on with that blasted solar assault ray, whatever it is. An important system has no been knocked into a reboot and the Tetrajet stuggles to stay in control in the fierce wind. "Laser..." he rumbles as he gives up and transforms into bot mode, the afterburners in his feet on to try and stay somewhat where hes at in this wind, "Its.. all I got in Alt mode... but different matter in this mode," he smirks and fires off a different kind of laser attack toward Backfire. Galvatron puts on a dubious frown. "Hm, if you say so, Fusillade. But I daresay you are really trying to disorient them for the sake of your own amusement." He stares at the bladdertrees that Fusillade has taken up shelter on, and muses aloud, "Say... those things. They're full of hydrogen, aren't they?" Cybertronian Tetra jet transforms into the pretty boy Decepticon, Windshear. Combat: Windshear's Slow Ray attack on Backfire goes wild! Combat: Windshear misses Red Spacecraft with his Slow Ray attack! >_> Red Spacecraft is well aware of Blast Off's capabilities after his years of clinging to Onslaught's prestige, and he knows Blast Off's larger size will not be a benefit in this environment. Redshift follows the shuttle, but goes UP instead of down, trying to gain some advantage by a superior position in the colourful, entrancing clouds. <> Blast Off is presenting a much bigger target, and Redshift decides to jump straight to the big munitions to try and ruin the fragile-but-speedy Combaticon's day. Attempting to adjust his targetting data to account for the intense winds, he lets loose a series of explosive deadly firebombs upon Blast Off, then BANKING sharply away from a stray blast of energy from below. There is a long, awkward silence in response to Galvatron's query, followed by the tiniest <> ever transmitted by Fusillade's radio. Combat: Red Spacecraft 's Phosphorous Bombs attack on Space Shuttle goes wild! Combat: Red Spacecraft strikes Windshear with his Phosphorous Bombs attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Windshear's Accuracy. (Blinded) Sure enough, Boomslang is hunting Catechism in the cloud. As he glides towards her balanced on the exhausts in his legs, he hopes that the noise of the storm and the pounding gabber hardcore beat will conceal the sound of his engines. With a three-tone transformation, his right forearm converts into a complex piece of machinery terminating in a black tube with a slight choke to it. He leans foward and swoops towards Catechism from behind, a section of the underside of his weapon rotates and locks into place with a distinctive chack-clack... Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of fat air! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Boomslang misses Catechism with his Integral Scattergun attack! Spike Witwicky says, "I need a /single/ Autobot to run this train off, or at least make sure he doesn't cause trouble as he leaves." Rodimus Prime says, "Unfortunately, I'm tied up. Who do we have?" Spike Witwicky says, "Smokestack... Well, let's hope he behaves then." Rodimus Prime says, "Fanfare, you take care of it. You, and you only. If he proves too much, withdraw and radio us, and we'll send in a replacement." Fanfare says, "Aye aye!" Backfire sticks with this route for as long as he can stand, then changes back into F-16 mode. He can't help but laugh when Windshear's attack doesn't even come close to him, instead shooting off towards Redshift. <> Cutting power to engines, Backfire slowly draws back in the wind to get a lock on his 'quarry'. The recticles bounce around in the storm, resistant to form up and cross on the Seeker's position. Some debris flies through the air, impacting on Backfire's hull ... all the while, lining up the crosshairs. |+| appears on Backfire's hud, the high blip indicating a lock. <> Backfire calls out. A missile deattaches from the wing, igniting immediately and propels towards Windshear. Rodimus Prime says, "I'm chosing you because I know you don't have an itchy trigger finger." A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Catechism is buffeted out of the line of Boomslang's shot, tossed like a rag doll by the raging winds. She muses, though it is argueable if she can even be heard at all, "You know, all this lightning is giving me an ide. Hope you get a charge out of it." She snaps out her electric whip, aiming it at Boomslang, but will the winds cast her line astray? Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Windshear with his MISS-ile attack! Fanfare says, "Aye. Ye coordinates, Sir?" Combat: Catechism misses Boomslang with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! -1 Galvatron rubs his chin, grinning evilly at Fusillade's confirmation. "Hmmm, interesting, Fusillade! I'll just keep that in mind, heheheheh!" Spike Witwicky transmits. The types of storms that form here last for decades, but the process appears accelerated for the sake of the simulation. The entire arena is shrouded in an eerie, diffuse indigo light. The winds crescendo fiercely in coruscating vortices, flinging combatants about like pebbles in ocean surf! <> Blast Off retorts dryly, but doesn't go into more specific details. Before this body was built, prehaps, but none of them really like to speak about that even these days. Especially more importantly when its in middle of a battle. He certainly doesn't seem all the concerned as he tracks Redshift going up instead of following him downward, but it doesn't really matter to him. The bombs are dropped, but the shuttle noses into a dive sharply, going crosswind so the air currents catch the lighter phosphorous bombs and blow them off his tail. If they get flung into someone else's fight, it's no concern of his. Blast Off levels out afterwards and starts to rise back up into the higher levels of the cloud cover, though emerging entirely. If one looked close enough they might catch a glimpse of his shadow moving about within the thick gases though. On the flip side, with his sensors made for cutting through atmospheric conditions of all sorts at long distances, the Combaticon sniper has little trouble with bidding his time and making a few sensory sweeps of the smaller craft from below. Fusillade's <> is barely audible over the tempest. Combat: Blast Off analyzes Redshift for weaknesses. Boomslang remembers what happened last time, and ejects chaff, rocking his legs forward to glide back and away from the chaff cloud. The electric whip's arc leaps through the cloud, crackling towards Boomslang, then diverts towards the chaff, discharging harmlessly into it with a loud crack. "Unlike those flatheads, I LEARN from my mistakes!" Boomslang gloats. Spinning around as he gains altitude, Boomslang whips a fist-sized black ball towards Catechism in a sidearm pitch. A red gleam winks on at the front of the ball, claws extending from its underside as a propeller pops out of the top. A hair-thin sheet of laser flickers through the cloud as the self-directed munition seeks a target. Combat: Boomslang's K-29 "Drillhead" Self-Directed Bore-Hole Munition attack aimed for Catechism backfires! Combat: Boomslang strikes himself with his K-29 "Drillhead" Self-Directed Bore-Hole Munition attack! Redshift curses as his bombs go flying off course, but he has more pressing matters at hand as Blast Off does.. Something. <> Redshift shouts, unaware of the Combaticon's real actions. Redshift flares his thrusters to close the gap between the two before transforming, and as he unfolds into his robot mode, he opens fire with his flamethrower, hoping to ignite the roiling violet clouds in a cascade of wild flames with which to engulf Blast Off. The sleek red spacecraft transforms into the winged warrior Redshift. Combat: Redshift strikes Space Shuttle with his Flamethrower attack! The laser settles on Boomslang. With a whirring noise the black ball spins around and starts chasing him. "No, you stupid thing! The other way! The other way! Auuugh get off! My aileron!" Catechism rubs the back of her cone and sighs, "Boomslang, can you try not to talk up conehead superiority and then explode yourself? I mean, I want to be flattered, I really do, but you're making it /hard/." Grumbling to herself, she calculates the wind speed, roughly, and launches off some slightly less unusual weaponry of her own. Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Catechism strikes Boomslang with her Acid Strike attack! Any other time, Blast Off probably would of bothered to veer off and evade the fire blast. But he realizes it would be a useless effort seeing as the flames just ignite more of the highly volatile gases in the atmosphere, making the fire spread out more to the point that even he likely wouldn't be able to out maneuver it. The furious fireblast engulfs the shuttle, burning away much of the crematic shielding that's made for taking thermal damage, sheering it away into smoldering ash to be swept away in the winds swirling about them. Or so it would seem... Because as the flames are gone, so is Blast Off! That attack was quite unpleasant, but at the same time taking it allowed him to drop out of direct view of the now robotic Redshift while the fiery blast obscured him from direct sight. It only takes a few deft moments for him to realign himself, pointing upward from the lower cloud bank. <> And that's when the shuttle emerges from the lower clouds, and the shimmering eruption of energy that's normally seen coming down is instead going -up-, preferable right underneath Redshift before he can move. Combat: Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Redshift with his Reverse Orbital Strike attack! Combat: Your attack continues to damage Space Shuttle Windshear shakes his head as his laser attack goes wild. It seems that one always does. What he was expecting was the return fire and taken by complete surprise by it loses control in the wind for a few moments. Which is only compounded by the fact that Reds attack gone wild blinded him for a moment. He tries to get a bead on Backfire with his radar and fires again at him. Combat: Windshear misses F-16 Falcon with his Laser attack! Boomslang manages to shake off the Drillhead by cutting a piece out of his own aileron and flinging it away with the munition still attached to it, chewing away. "If that hadn't been embarrassing it would've been AMAZING," he retorts. This is Boomslang's whole philosophy of weapons in a nutshell. Laying on the thrust, he careens boldly through the acid barrage (taking a few splatters on his fuselage in the process) towards Catechism, transforming to bring a heavier weapon to bear. With a rolling hiss, a barrage of unguided rockets blast off towards Catechism's position! With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Fearless. The Maelstrom begins to pass, although the occasional sizzling multi-million volt of lightning arcs between the towering, ruddy culumonimbus clouds. Their edges turn wispy, diaphonous, as they are scattered and ushered away by tremendous, sweeping winds The pale, white-yellow firmament begins to appear, scrubbed clean by the four hundred astroclick per hour winds of the jetstreams that scour the heavens. Flailing, panicking pigeon-sized tumble past, threatening to collide with the wildly maneuvering dogfighters, or be sucked into engines. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Catechism with his Mk.66 Hydra-70 Rocket Barrage attack! Swirling through the air currents, Backfire pulls up and away from Windshear's attempt at retaliation. <> he proudly goads, then remembers Galvatron is in the room. <> Once again he lines up the nosecone and lets out with some machine gun clips. Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Windshear with his Ratta-Tatta (Disruptor) attack! > Redshift snaps as Blast Off's shuttle mode pierces through the wall of flame, smoldering but no less threatening . Before he can react, the high-coherance beam of x-ray radiation pierces through Redshift's armor and slices off one of his wings as neatly as a surgeon's scalpel. Momentarily powerless, he plummets down into the clouds amist the panicked cloud-creatures, some hapless simalucrums splattering against his armor as he falls. Struggling to fight gravity, wind, and extreme pain, Redshift raises his rifle, and fires off a few ill-aimed blasts up at the shuttle. Combat: Redshift strikes Space Shuttle with his Incinerator Rifle attack! -3 Windshear realizes hes getting his aft kicked. Nothing new in that...with a shrug he decides to fire a weapon he rarely ever does. Hopefully it will hit and readjusting his sights he lets lose with it toward Backfire. Combat: Windshear strikes F-16 Falcon with his Thermal Laser attack! Galvatron idly remarks, "Oh, of COURSE, Backfire," as he idly backhands a panicking flying creature away. "Oh, and maybe Windshear can have some contaminated fuel as well? Why, that sounds splendid!" Galvatron is very idly, you see. Catechism dodges out of the way of a tumbling... something, and has her head rotated back to look at whatever it was when Boomslang brings one of his purchases to bear and slams her with a Mk.82 GP Bomb. She's blasted, now looking ashen grey all-over, instead of her usual blue-grey, and her torso is blown open, exposing the machinery of her lift fan, and dripping acid, hydraulic fluid, and energon to the bottomless ever below. Catechism grimaces and transforms, commenting, "Great, now I only have rocket operation out of my engines, which means any speeds under Mach 5 are a wash - so just how do you handle crashes, anyway?" She aims to find out. Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with her Ram attack! Windshear recovers from the recoil of that particular laser and looks up toward Galvatron, "Uhm, no sir?" F-16 Falcon is struck by the barrage of lasers, even though he 'expertly' twisted through the air in a rolling pattern. The projectiles leave fist sized dents in his hull, a large crack runs up the glass shield on the cockpit. And with every gust, the crack travels further and further up. Worried about further damage being sustained, Backfire transforms into robot mode and ignites boot thrusters. "Pathetic Windshear, I'd have thought a 'warrior' of your ego would dole out more significant damage!" Backfire smarts, firing off a couple rounds of laserfire. The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Backfire strikes Windshear with his Arm-Mounted Lasers! (Laser) attack! F/A-18 Super Hornet jettisons the empty Hydra-70 pod once all sixteen rockets are away clean, swinging around Catechism's other side to come roaring back towards her even as she's literally rocketing towards him. "By getting out of the way!" he exclaims, transforming and rolling aside. "Hnf!" Catechism whisks past him close enough for him to grab her by the tail, and grab her he does, hanging on as tightly as he can with his left hand. Trying to bring his right arm up against the incredible force of the wind, he does his level best to let Catechism have it in the wing root with the scattergun. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Some of the gases around the shuttle briefly crystallize as colder fumes are vented into them as the cannons discharge from their cooling systems. Unfortunately it does little to subdue the lingering flames still clinging to his form thanks to that flamethrower. Blast Off shifts, watching Redshift's briefly powerless plummet. <> Unfortunately he gets shot up a few more times while delivering his little speech, aggrivating were the flames are still slowly burning into him and starting to interfer with more intricate internal systems from the residue heat damage. Hmph. But the upgraded framework he had done is holding against what would of probably burned him to a crisp months before, so it's bearable. He shifts into his robot mode, mentally shuts off the danger warnings going off in his head -- this was a training excersize after all -- And draws his blaster. Holding it in both hands to steady, he points down while remaining hovering midair, and opens fire. Several lesser ion bolts spark through the simu-alien air, in an attempt to make sure Red stays at a distance. Combat: Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Boomslang strikes XF-35B Astral Lightning with his Integral Scattergun attack! The shuttle unfolds as its size compresses down to form layers of armor, wings folding up as limbs and a head emerge, and Blast Off now stands hauntily in robot mode. Windshear shrugs, "Well..." and thes not much he can say about it, but take another hit and he idley notices a few more damage readings on his HUD. He ignores them. "If you come say that to my face perhaps I can show you exactly where my strength lies.." Windy says as he returns fire. Combat: Blast Off strikes Redshift with his Go down and stay down attack! -3 Combat: Your attack continues to damage Blast Off Combat: Windshear misses Backfire with his Laser attack! The training room is a rave gas giant. No, really. Fusillade is cowering from Galvatron in a bladdertree buoyed by hydrogen, and the tailend of a gargantuan storm is knocking around a set of six Decepticons warring with each other in three sets of two. The lightning flashes are suspiciously strobe-like now that the storm is fading. "OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ" goes the storm. XF-35B Astral Lightning is grabbed by Boomslang and assaulted by something like a shotgun. This is... annoying. She pours on speed and tries some evasive maneuvers to try to get him off. Sure, one wing is about to come off, but if she flies fast enough, her body will generate enough lift on its own. Catechism hisses, "Jet judo is for Autobots!" There is also no ground to speak of. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: XF-35B Astral Lightning strikes Boomslang with her Wingover (Kick) attack! Backfire twirls as gracefully through the air as he can, given the conditions Fusillade set forth. But all in all, the simpleton is faring far better than anyone gives him credit for. Making a sharp turn, the Seeker lines up another assault and rockets forth. The wing tipped lasers pulse as a charge is built up, releasing two small-ish pink globules of energy. <> Combat: Backfire strikes Windshear with his Charged Pulse (Laser) attack! Fusillade says, "Boomslang she called you a DIRTY WORD" Blast Off grunts. "Fusillade, must the storm really make that bizarre noise? It's almost as obnoxious as Brawl's shouting." Harrow says, "I kinda' like it." Windshear sighs as he gets hit again, "My level?" he asks, "Thats a long way for you to climb to get to my level there bud, dont strain yourself." and he rather disinterestedly, lobs off another laserblast... Combat: Windshear strikes Backfire with his Laser attack! Fusillade asks over square waves, "HUH? WHAT?" Blast Off deadpans, "Exactly." Blast Off may be able to shoot better than Redshift, but Redshift does have a lot more staying power. Even as he plummets, still suffering the effects of Blast Off's orbital bombardment, he takes another debilitating blast of energy. His servos overload, producing a series of crackling *pops* as his motors blow ,leaving his limbs hanging limply as he flies. He tranforms to his dpacefighter mode where the lack of functioning motor-relay servos is hardly a problem, and he blasts upwards unsteadily through the clouds, one wing missing as he blasts upwards. The music reaches a peaking crescendo as he thnder skyward, piercing through the clouds on top of a roaring column of white-hot exhaust, he flies past Blast Off's position, trying to clip the Combation with one blade-like wing. Redshift transforms into his sleek spacecraft mode and takes to the air. Combat: Red Spacecraft misses Blast Off with his Wing Slice attack! -2 Fusillade says, "Smelt start knocking each other out already!" Redshift says, "I'm TRYING!" Fusillade says, "KILL HARDER!" Backfire takes the shot, it's absorbed mostly by his undercarriage. <> the simpleton laughs, barreling through the air and prepping weapons systems again. Used to the trick of fighting in a gale force wind, well kinda, he locks onto Windshears position and rockets off another deadly projectile. <> Fusillade mutters impatiently to herself, and starts glancing around at the combatant's dizzying maneuvers, starting to track their motions more carefully. Redshift says, "Seeing as hoew he's still ON FIRE, I think I'm doing pretty well." A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes Windshear with his MISS-ile attack! -2 "Anything those dirty groundpounders can do, we can do better!" Boomslang retorts, tumbling off as Catechism hurls him away with a barrel roll. This is clearly an exaggeration; Sideswipe is MUCH better at Jet Judo than Boomslang is. He tries to fire the scattergun again, but it's dry, his coilgun wouldn't work in the weird magnetic fields of the storm, and he didn't equip his revolver so that he could carry those rocket pods and a little something extra that he's been saving. "Well, no time like the present," he muses as he falls down through the virtual atmosphere on his back. Reaching back to one of his hardpoints, he unlatches a tube about half as long as he is tall, and fits something to the end of it that looks like a fat little egg with stubby fins, then sets it to his shoulder. "Say hello," Boomslang yells up at Catechism (and the rest of the fight), "to my LITTLE FRIEND!" With an underwhelming *foomp* noise the tube fires and the egg goes sailing up towards the battle. Boomslang watches, squinting through the wind of his descent, until the egg is approximately at Catechism's altitude, then presses the red switch on the side of the launcher. There is a blinding light. There is a deafening noise. There is an expanding ball of energy rolling out in all directions. Windshear was distracted by Fusillades comment and takes a missle straight to the chest. He tumbles bac and then suddenly gets hit by something and serious danger warnings flash across his HUD as he falls toward the floor. Combat: Windshear takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Galvatron was evidently high enough to avoid the explosion and resulting chain reaction. "HAHAHAHAHA oh that's glorious! We need to go to a gas giant JUST to set off high explosives, hmhahahahaha!!! It would be even better, hahahaha!" he raves, drooling a bit as he watches the expanding detonation. "Primus bless you, Operation Sunbeam," Boomslang murmurs while he tries to restart his engines, basking in the warm glow of the Davy Crockett's blast. <> Fusillade exhales, her goggles auto-darkening near black, and the air sizzling around her. And then the conflagration reaches the bladdertree grove she was hanging out in. KRAK-THOOOOOOOM! Fusillade's screech fades into the distance as she goes arcing away, smoldering. F-16 Falcon circles around his target, unsure whether or not to press his advantage in light of the circumstances. Transforming, his boot thrusters ignite and carry him towards the beaten up wreck of Windshear. Training both palms on the downed Seeker, he hesitates for a moment. "Executrix and Lord Galvatron, permission to finish what I started??" he asks of his commanding officers, intent on delivering their will. The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Backfire takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Combat: Backfire uses up a charge on his Befouled Energon booster pack! <> Even the EGO has to admit as Redshift manages to transform into his faster vehicle mode and come screaming, abiet somewhat unstable, back up through the clouds. But Blast Off isn't some stupid drone that's going to just stand there, well hover there, and get sliced up. No to be fair, he probably normally wouldn't be able to dodge entirely out of the way of Redshift's speed. This time is different though, as he twists to the side missing the blade-like wing to take advantage of the damage. Then as he straightens out to watch Redshift zoom off and away, he raises his blaster at the speedy little craft. Unfortunately, gets struck in the back by Boomslang's wild ordinance while he's drawing a bead, which is enough to send the Combaticon into a plummet himself as it detonates a chunk out of his already burning and weakened backside. Though it's a fair testiment to Blast Off's precision as a sharpshooter that, even on the verge of a plummeting 'death', he still manages to pull the trigger and squeeze off the one last shoot he was aiming for, and even as he falls a final bolt of crackling ionized energy hurtles after Redshift... Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blast Off misses Red Spacecraft with his All Or Nothing Shot attack! Combat: You notice your attack on Blast Off wearing off. XF-35B Astral Lightning obligingly replies, "Hello, egg - WAGH!" Catechism is hit twice, and she's blown into two pieces. One half of her has her anti-gravs, and the other does not. This is a BAD THING. Half-transforming, Catechism snaps out her whip to grab the lower half of her body, which is hanging dumbly in the air without a mind to tell it what to do. So now hanging from the detached half of her body by the line of her whip, she pulls out her demolition kit with her free hand, rummages through it, various tools falling off into nothing until she finds a big lump of C4. She awkwardly jams a detonator in it and throws it off into the fray. Windshear feels Backfires hands on him and he smirks slightly. Itsnot quite over yet. He clenches a fist and his arm blade extends and he suddenly lunges it hopefully through Backfires chest. XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. Combat: Windshear sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Catechism has created a bomb: "Ugly Lump of C4"! Combat: Catechism sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Windshear strikes Backfire with his Arm Blade attack! Combat: Catechism strikes Blast Off with Ugly Lump of C4's Huge Explosion #9633 Area attack! Combat: Catechism's Ugly Lump of C4 is destroyed! Combat: Blast Off falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Catechism misses Backfire with Ugly Lump of C4's Huge Explosion #9633 Area attack! Combat: Catechism strikes Windshear with Ugly Lump of C4's Huge Explosion #9633 Area attack! Combat: Catechism strikes Red Spacecraft with Ugly Lump of C4's Huge Explosion #9633 Area attack! Combat: You took 16 damage. Combat: You are very aware that your life is in danger! Combat: Catechism's attack has damaged your Strength! Combat: Catechism strikes Boomslang with Ugly Lump of C4's Huge Explosion #9633 Area attack! Fusillade says, "Welp, one down, two more to go. I suppose there really wasn't any good way to guarantee that these matches STAYED one on one, what with everyone's aim and all." Boomslang manages to stabilize himself, cocks the Davy Crockett tube back like a baseball bat and waits for Catechism to fall to his level... Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Catechism for weaknesses. Red Spacecraft is sent into a tailspin as the explosion rips through the simulated cloudbanks, and the one-winged spaceship struggles to right itself even as Blast Off's last gasp is fired in his direction. The shockwave tears the vaporous gasses apart, and rip through Redshift's already battered frame. Tumbling widly and without control, he lets off a scream and plunges towards the murky depths of the gas giant. > Redshift shouts, opening his bomb-bays and letting his munitions fly out haphazardly as he falls, burning and disintegrating, into the depths. Combat: Red Spacecraft strikes Catechism with his Phosphorous Bombs Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Catechism's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Red Spacecraft strikes Fusillade with his Phosphorous Bombs Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Fusillade's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Red Spacecraft misses Galvatron with his Phosphorous Bombs Area attack! Combat: Used up 1 WP_Bombs. 1 remain. Backfire is caught unawares by Windshear's underhanded attack, obviously having learned it from Hinder no doubt. "Egads Windshear, you cretin! I was sufficient in letting you walk away..." he trails, as Catechism's C4 detonates. As fast as the Seeker can he climbs high into the sky, not even daring to look back at the large explosion. "Blasphemy!" he cries out, hovering. Bringing his hands together near his midsection, the simpleton builds a minute ball of concentrated plasma tween the two. His head bobs up and down like one of those cheap bobble head dolls, as he recognizes every threat on the storm below. Bringing the charge above his shoulders, it doubles in size suddenly. "Lord Galvatron -better- be watching!!" he jests, sending it down with a "HRMPH!" Before it even gets close, the ball separates into individual streams of energy and streak for their intended target. Combat: Backfire misses Windshear with his SPIRIT BOMB-ish ATTACK! Area attack! Combat: Backfire misses Red Spacecraft with his SPIRIT BOMB-ish ATTACK! Area attack! Combat: Backfire misses Boomslang with his SPIRIT BOMB-ish ATTACK! Area attack! Combat: Backfire strikes Catechism with his SPIRIT BOMB-ish ATTACK! Area attack! ... Oh wait, the burning didn't entirely offline him yet, Blast Off realizes, and quickly kicks in his hoverjets to stop his decent. Surely well enough away from the rest of the fighting. "Well, that was somewhat annoy--" *blunk* A bit of the wad of C-4 sticks to his chest. Blast Off peers down at it for a moment, and then just lets out a long sigh of fustration. Glares at the Decepticons overhead. "I hate all of you," he rasps dryly. Before a lingering bit of flame reachs the lump of explosive, and a second smaller explosion goes off as its ignited. *Nnnnnnrrrrrrrr---FOOMP* Well at least one of those trees broke his fall. Fusillade's peals of laughter at Redshift's rage quickly fade as the blinding white searing flashes of the spaceship's munitions land on her already smoking form. Ceramic tiles crack and she snarls, before wobbily transforming and dumping out a set of twelve-foot long JDAMs. Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Backfire with her JDAM the Torpedoes Area attack! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Red Spacecraft with her JDAM the Torpedoes Area attack! Combat: Red Spacecraft falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Boomslang with her JDAM the Torpedoes Area attack! Galvatron laughs uncontrollably as yet more explosions burst through the atmosphere. The bizarre "rave" theme this planet has doesn't help his sanity any. "More! MORE! MORE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION! EVERYONE DIE, AHAHAHAHA!" He then turn his fusion cannon down towards the bladdertrees, and howls with insane laughter as he fires upon them. "NAHAHAHAHA--" KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Catechism gets blindsided by Redshift's shock and awe, so she focuses on climbing up the whip to her legs, so that she can be holding into her legs instead of just hanging from them. Great, now she's the galaxy's dumbest-looking surfer, and... Backfire blows out her hand servos with his weirdo magic. She protests, "Backfire! Blueshift told you no more dark pagan magic!" Angrily, she cracks her whip out with her free hand, the other clutching her legs... even as Galvatorn blows EVERYTHING UP and it all goes white. Combat: Galvatron misses Backfire with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Windshear with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Combat: Windshear falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Galvatron misses Boomslang with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Catechism with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Combat: Catechism falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Galvatron misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes himself with his EVERYONE DIES! Area attack! Fusillade says, "Aw SLAG, Boomslang! We weren't supposed to do that!" Boomslang dodges this way and that and the other as blasts and pieces of robot fly everywhere. "This is not a safe space!" he exclaims, vanishing in a fuzz of static. "IN THE NAME OF STRAXUS, MAKE THE EXPLOSIONS STOP!!!" Backfire cries out, feeling like a pinball bounding around to keep himself alive. Having already been set on fire from the raging atmospheric firestorm, nay, even FIRECANE, Fusillade isn't too keen on getting hit again. Self-preservation kicks in, and she forgets that 1.) she is supposed to hold still for Galvatron's cannonings, and 2.) that she actually is in control of the simulation. The igniting methane doesn't die down anytime soon. Boomslang dodges this way and that and the other as blasts and pieces of robot fly everywhere. "This is not a safe space!" he exclaims, jetting after Backfire with his knife drawn and held out before him like a spearpoint. "It's just you and me now, buddy! Your kamehamehas can't save you now!" Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Boomslang strikes Backfire with his Combat Knife attack! Red Spacecraft lets out a laugh that's more hacking, sputtering cough than laughter, joining with Fusillade's momentary mirth at the whole sitution. He's glad his bombs hit /something/, but he has little time to rejoice as he is blown to smitherreens by one of Fusillade's bunker-busting JDAMs, a missile nearly as large as himself blowig up in his face. His vision goes dim briefly, until he is met with a dazzling view of a simulated exploding Redshift, and fed data on is performance by the computer. <> He muses, as he watches the remainder of the explosive carnage. Blast Off nnnnnnghs, rubbing his head as the training room systems realize he's out of the fight and bumps him back into conciousness. He grunts, turning around to just sit in the tree he landed in. "I really, -really- hate people who just throw those bombs out randomly," he mutters to no one in particular under his breath. "Kamehamawhat?" Backfire questions, mostly startled to see another living soul in all this destruction. Then Boomslang's knife ends up lodged in his chest, the green noxious TAINTED energon spilling out like a geyser. "You ... curr, what's the meaning of this!" he cries out, obviously winded. Bringing a hand to bear, "NOW FEEL THE WRATH!" he laughs summoning a huge reserve of energon from the depths of his circuits. A tiny translucent bubble floats out haphazardly, slowly towards Boomslang. "Noooooooooooooo!" Combat: Backfire misses Boomslang with his Energon Bubble? (Disruptor) attack! *plip* Catechism respawns up in the towering clouds, since her pieces have been blown to the seven winds by now, according to the simulation. "Ow." She pauses a long moment. "I think I died harder there than any of the times where I've actually almonst died." Another pause. "Ow. I think I'm die cast now." Fusillade says, "Oh. My. Maker. What is that GREEN STUFF?!" Blast Off grunts. "Backfire was 'scentenced' to retaining the green contamination to his energy as punishment for his rogue actions by Lord Galvatron... Apparently other than color it doesn't -do- anything." Pauses. Another grunt. "Ow my processors hurt, even with this being artificial." Fusillade says, "Oh, right. The public access announcement forums." Catechism says, "Weaksauce. Backfire, at least learn how to bleed acid!" Windshear sits up and leans against the wall, watching what fighting is still going on. As usual he got his aft kicked again and by Backfire of all mechs. Its getting to the point he doesnt even phase him anymore. Windy pulls out an enercig and works in it quietly. Blast Off manages to laugh, weakly, at Catechism. Blast Off is clearly a bit punchdrunk still, if he's laughing. "What's the meaning of this? What's the meaning of THAT?" replies Boomslang, disgusted by the horrible ooze coming out of Backfire instead of nice pink energon. He doesn't even notice the tiny bubble floating by. He leaves the knife where it is, unlimbers the recoilless rifle tube that the Davy Crockett is fired from, and swings away, trying to knock Backfire's horrible oozy self away from him! Combat: Boomslang misses Backfire with his the Next Barry Bonds including the cheating (Punch) attack! Galvatron's powerful blast drained all of his energy, and the tyrant's boot thrusters die out as a result. "Heheheh.. hahaha.." he chuckles, cheek twitching as he plummets down into the crushing depths of the gas giant. "Hahahaha... worth it..." Catechism says solemnly, "Boomslang. You know you have to do this, right?" Boomslang says, "Doing my best!" Satisfied with having sped up the proceedings, and more collected now, Fusillade transforms back to her robot mode, and flies back toward the main area where the whole setup was arranged. "Didn't even get to start with the shrikebats. Well, next time I guess!" She palms a control to let benches and sidelines rematerialize for those done with the simulation. The bladdertrees reset, the fires fading before completely winking out of existance. She cants her head to the side as Galvatron appears to be out in the simulation somewhere. "How far down does this thing go?" Windshear says, "bleed acid? Hey as much as I get shot up, cut up, slashed up.. I wonder if thats actually possible? I mean make the best of the situation you know..."" Catechism says, "Uh... yeah. I bleed acid. It's a long story, and I ended up speaking Russian for a while in the middle for it..." Windshear grumbles, "Well least you dont speak fluent Chinese now... Backfire finds a bit of excess energon, throwing it into thrusters as he slowly pulls away from Boomslang. "Uhh, I have no idea what -that- was! What's your deal Boomslang, we defeated our opponents ... can't we share the limelight?" he roars, then thinks. "You know what, don't answer that." The Seeker simpleton extroidanaire whips his signature weapon from subspace, hefting the Buck Rogers looking rifle in his hands. Green energon still spills at a rapid rate from his chest wound, he slowly pauses to catch his 'breath'. Combat: Backfire takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Combat: Backfire uses up a charge on his Befouled Energon booster pack! Catechism says, "Ooooh, which dialect?" Blast Off clunks the ground as the simulation is cleared out. Gets up and dusts himself off a bit. "Well, that was certainly more entertaining than just shooting the drone several times to practice," he admits. Well, he may of gone down in the fight but he still showed the upstart spacer a thing or two in the process. As far as he's concerned at least. Redshift says, "Whichever dialect is most /annoying/, I'm sure." Catechism cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, "Boomslang, if you don't kill Backfire right this instant, I'll take away your cone!" Maybe that will motivate him? Combat: Catechism resets herself. Combat: Catechism inspires Boomslang with patriotic and menacing words! "No, we can't share," Boomslang replies, jetting after Backfire persistently. "My very cone is at stake if I don't win this! Can I do less?!" He swings the recoilless rifle again, trying to strike the hilt of his knife and drive it in further like staking a vampire. Combat: Boomslang misses Backfire with his Van Helsing'd! (Punch) attack! Windshear finishes his cig and just watches the fight. Backfire ducks low, allowing the strike to miss. "Yeah, your cone ... my life!" he growls, charging up a palm shot. The short break really did wonders for his tainted system. "You mess with the best, you REAP THE WHIRLWIND!" he cries out, firing off a shot of the highly unstable energon. "Uhh, what does that even mean?" Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire misses Boomslang with his FURMANISMS! attack! Space-Going B-1R Lancer groans audibly. ".. They need to work on their combat banter," Blast Off remarks dully, folding his arms. Boomslang twists aside, flipping end over end to transform and soar over Backfire in a widening gyre like some great, predatory bird! "It means that whenever you open your mouth, all that comes out is hot air, Backfire! But I'm going to give you the worst case of indigestion you've ever had!" With the usual ratcheting sound, Boomslang spins and flips and turns into a fighter jet. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet misses Backfire with his Double-Furmanism Bomb attack! Space-Going B-1R Lancer rocks back on her landing gear. "No kidding. This is going to take longer than the main matches..." Catechism rubs her chin and suggests, "Hey, Blast Off, can you spot for them? Maybe they'll be able to land a hit that way if you do." Backfire likewise transforms, soaring up into the air after Boomslang. <> he trails, bringing his weapons systems online and mark to bear on his quarry. <> A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Combat: F-16 Falcon strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with his SINGLE FURMANISM! attack! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet falls to the ground, unconscious. "I don't think that'll be necessary," Blast Off replies a moment later. F/A-18 Super Hornet augurs in! "I can't believe iiiiiiiit!" Catechism groans and covers her face with her hands. "No! I've got to-" and she looks wildly over at the exit. "Oh slaggitall!" Fusillade recoils, before slinging a cruise missile at the obscenity before her. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes F-16 Falcon with her GBU-27 attack! "Kill it kill it!" Space-Going B-1R Lancer taxis backward out of the training room. F/A-18 Super Hornet adds, a little late, "Better to fight- and die- than to return a coward!" Still crashing. Long way to fall in this simulation. Blast Off leans against the trunk of the tree he's still sitting in. "Well, isn't that an ironic turn of events. The contaminated freak managed to come out on top. What an upset." All said in his usual cold deadpan." Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet resets M-29 Davy Crockett. Combat: Boomslang resets himself. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. +POT Boomslang is now observing. Windshear looks bored but somehow not surprised that backfire won.... Transforming, Backfire plummets endlessly. But it matters not, he's won the simulation ... he's won the respect of his peers, probably not. "It is over ... Finished!" he declares, looking around. "Uhh, guys ... how do we get out?" The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Combat: Fusillade resets herself. Combat: Blast Off resets himself. Combat: Backfire resets himself. Fusillade hastily adds, "So uh good job guys. Someone be sure to turn off the gas giant simulation." Fusillade says, "The -exploding- rave gas giant." Boomslang says, "I can't reach the switch." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "There's a switch?" Fusillade says, "I'll be back in a few." Blast Off lets out another sigh, but keeps the 'idiot' comments to himself. Sticks his arm to the side without looking, and fires off a low level shot from his blaster. Enough to not actually do damage, less he earn the ire of the Constructions having to fix it, but the ionic burst should still be enough to hit the -off- switch hidden in the illusion. He's got its location precisely memorized for emergencies, like the holodeck suddenly going alive without the safeties like some freak Star Trek episode. Backfire falls to the floor. Combat: Backfire damages himself. Combat: Backfire falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Backfire resets himself. KRUNK! Galvatron appears, and lands on Backfire, breaking his own fall and preventing the tyrant from being damaged. "Oh, why, thank you, Backfire!" Galvatron chuckles as he plants a hand on Backfire's head and pushes off of it to regain his footing. Combat: Galvatron resets himself. "Lord Galvatrogunuh!" Backfire calls out, voice muffled when his head is pushed into the flooring. "Did I serve the EMPIRE well or what?" Harrow moves to the NCC Arena. Harrow has left. Blast Off stifles a snicker as Galvatron lands on Backfire, having a concealed facial expression makes hiding it fairly easy. "You broke his fall, I suppose that counts somewhat." With that he turns to trot back out for himself. Galvatron nods in agreement with Boomslang.* "I suppose you did, Backfire--THIS TIME!" He smirks as he also enters the lift. *Blast Off, actually Blast Off moves to the NCC Arena. Blast Off has left. Boomslang is not going to tell Galvatron which one he is. Correcting Galvatron is something you learn not to do. "Sir yes sir." Fusillade says, "Hey Boomslang write the training summary." Boomslang says, "Is this because I lost to that no-load Backfire?" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "I'm still on channel Boomslang!" Fusillade says, "No, I have macros set up." Boomslang says, "Sorry, is this because I lost to you, you no-load?" Boomslang says, "Oh, all right." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "You didn't lose to me Boomslang, you lost to the might of the EMPIRE!" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "All Hail Galvatron!" Contagion says, "You lost to a retard. Boomslang. Sir." Boomslang gets up off the comfortable floor and sulks off to go write the report, grumbling. Contagion says, "Unfortunatly, the stupid are nominally lucky." Boomslang grumbles, "Hail Galvatron." Boomslang has left. Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Ha, see even Contagion thinks you lost to ah ... wait a second. I'm not retarded!" Fusillade says, "Yeah don't insult the retards like that" Fanfare says, "Aye Aye." Windshear says, "Boomslang, dont concern yourself too much with it... least you dont lose every time now do you?" Contagion says, "Merely intellectually stunted, Backfire. But your loyalty and . . . sense of purpose is admirable." Contagion says, "But intellectually stunted nonetheless." Catechism says, "Contagion. We have to ritually decone Boomslang for the shame of losing to a flathead." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Wait, do I get to wear his cone now?" Harrow snickers. Shockwave says, "You can't take my cone, I'm busy writing a report!" Fusillade says, "I know someone who's going to be stealthed for a good long time." Fusillade says, "WHOA HOLY SMELT" Boomslang says, "Sorry, I was doing my Shockwave imitation for the report. You can't take my cone, though!" Boomslang says, "It's almost like still having him around that way." Contagion says, "An admirable suggestion, Wing Commander." Contagion says, "However, it could have been worse." Contagion says, "He did not lose to Thrust." Fusillade says, "She kinda wagered that in the middle of the match. I heard them." Fanfare says, "Ahh'll pretend tae be securin tha perimiter." Fusillade says, "Although ONE COULD ARGUE that it was a... simulated wager." Windshear says, "..Whats wrong with losing to a 'flattop' anyway?" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Because flattops are less aerodynamic, and a lower class Windshear." Harrow says, "Backfire..." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Yes?" Harrow says, "You're a flattop." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "NOT BY CHOICE, DOMINATRIX!" Fusillade says, "Come now, we've discussed his shortcomings!" Harrow grumbles. Windshear says, "Wait what? lower class?"" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Executrix, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to show up our comrades. Let that be a lesson to you all, hitting people is very important ... but not getting hit is much much more important. I think. Yeah." Fusillade says, "I can't even pretend to understand Seeker society." Catechism says, "Best to get out of it while you can." Fusillade says, "Try not to kill each other while I'm recharging." Coldwar says, "DEC-511 Coldwar in contact with Autobot designated Broadside. Requesting information exchange for intel purposes of GIT matter. Over." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Fraternize with the enemy at your own risk Coldwar, comrades have been executed for less." Coldwar says, "Copy that, Backfire. Fraternization has nothing to do with this rendezvous." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "..." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "I liked it better when you called me Command." Coldwar says, "Copy that." Coldwar says, "Commencing hands on interrogation of Autobot unit Broadside." Polarity giggles. "Broadside? Sounds like a real fat aft with a name like that!" Astrotrain says, "You have no idea." Astrotrain says, "Also for the record, I hate this freaking chinaland. Seriously." Polarity says, ".. They didn't catch you, I hope." Astrotrain says, "If they'd caught me would I be saying how much I hate this dirthole?" Astrotrain says, "No I'd be spoutin some nonsense about how awesome it is and makin a utter aftplate of myself, that's what." Polarity says, "Could be a psycho out attempt!" Astrotrain says, "Just ask Windshear!" Polarity says, "You're not an aftplate anyways? *cackle*" Windshear hears his name on the chan, "What?" he rasps. Astrotrain says, "You know -all- about how foolish them cons that got them little dominator thingies on em look, dontcha?" Windshear is silent for a long moment and then theres a low rumble, "... Well.... " and he cant think of anything else to add to that .. >_> Blast Off says, "You should consider yourself fortunate, Windshear. You got back onto the right side of the war without having to go through what I did to Backfire to... retrieve him." Windshear perks up, "Blast Off! What did you do? And by all means go into detail." Astrotrain says, "He should count himself fortunate the Boss was in a good mood, that's what." Blast Off says, "Well that too, yes." Coldwar grunts, "This one seems to be a bit more of a handful than most... Preparing to break off engagement and RTB." Windshear answers smugly, "Well some of us are more forunate than others..." Astrotrain says, "What, Broadside stomped ya already? C'mon you can't handle a third-rate imitation triplechanger?" Blast Off says, "He was at the epicenter of one of my orbital strikes to.. disable him. Since Galvatron wanted him back alive." There's a pause, and you can hear a definate smugly cold tone of amusement creep into his voice. "But he never said it had to be in one piece."" Coldwar says, "Negative. My damage from earlier today has proven too extensive." Windshear chuckles, "Thats great! Was it painful? Windshear says, "I hope it was..." Blast Off says, "Extensively. *transmits a shot of Backfire lying in a wreck in his cargo bay afterwards, much of his exterior form melted and breaking off from the orbital cannoning*" Astrotrain says, "Psht, you shoulda seen the time I one-shot blasted Broadside to smithereens. Sure, it was with Sixshot's gun mode, but I did all the shootin!" Harrow saves image. Windshear looks and records a copy to his memory banks, "Blast Off, watch that green stuff all in him! No telling what it is but Galvatron doesnt want it out of him!" Blast Off merely chuckles a bit as the green energon is mentioned. "Oh, I know. I was there when Galvatron made that proclimation. I maaaaaay of let slip that it was possibly his little alien buddy trying to poison him. So it's suitable punishment." Blast Off is a big, smug jerk. And enjoyed it the entire time. "It appears to do little other than make him a horrible freak though. Green energon, pssssh. Disgusting." Coldwar says, "DEC-511 reporting in... Looks like the Autobots are just as in the dark about the dominator discs as we are. They have lost even more units in a failed attempt at trying to disguise members of their ranks as dominated Autobots in an attempt to infiltrate the GIT. This may be a good thing, or a bad thing... It is a slight against the Autobots, but now there are even more Cybertronians under GIT control." Blast Off says, "Double-edged blade, that." Blast Off says, "Less Autobots, more China obsessed fools." Blast Off says, "Targets either way, in the end" Windshear says, "The Chinese need to pay severaly for their actions against the Decepticons... who cares about the Autobots.." Blast Off says, "If several of them die in the crossfire, we're certainly not going to complain, though." Windshear says, "Autobots or Chinese? Bah... both as extreme collateral damage wont hurt my feelings at all." Blast Off says, "And before anyone asks, no, I do not know where Swindle went. A bunch of his stuff is missing from our base, and he hasn't been answering radio hails. I believe he's gone on the lam." Exasperated sigh. "-Again-." Windshear asks honestly caues he doesnt know Swindle that well. Oh he knows him, is friends, has done business with him, been duped too.. but still. "Has he done something to be on the lam for?" Astrotrain says, "Yeah see you Combaticons got a bit of a problem, ya know?" Blast Off says, "Check the reports from while you were.. indisposed, Windshear. Galvatron believes he's the one who sold some of those discs to whoever is behind China in the first place. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised, either." Astrotrain says, "Swindle goin on the lam, and I had to kick Onslaught's aftplate when he went joyriding with the Boss' ship awhile ago." Astrotrain says, "What -is- it with you guys? Next I'm gonna hear Vortex went off and joined a freakin monastary!" Windshear doesnt sound happy, "WHAT?... Ok you know, he sold me an escape pod by somehow convincing me it was a small attack shuttle -- we wont go into that -- but this? This jepordizes all of us! Blast Off hmphs. "How do you think -I- feel, I'm the one that has to work with the lot on a regular basis." Blast Off says, "And it would be more disturbing to see Brawl join a monastary. He's the one that can't shut up." Astrotrain says, "He must form Bruticus' mouth." Blast Off says, "I'll keep trying to get a draw on where he is, but if he won't even speak to -me-, he certainly knows people are on to him." Windshear says, "Hopefully Galvatron wont be in a good mood when Swindle is finally located..." Blast Off clicks his radio, and a recording of Swindle's voice comes up, **Thank you for calling the SwindleCo. help line; your wallet-err-patronage is important to me. If you are calling to leave a message, press 1. If you are calling because you have a complaint, press 2. If you are calling because you were sold faulty equipment, press 4. If you are calling because I've possibly sold out a good portion of the faction for the sake of one slagging good deal, please leave a message so I know where NOT to get back to you. HAve a nice day!** .... "I hate that recording so much." Astrotrain says, "I'd almost admire his honesty." Blast Off sighs. "At least Brawl's brain circuits didn't end up in some human brats' mockery of a robot this time." Windshear listens to the recording and vents some air through his intakes that can be heard through the comm. "This mech nees help... Windshear says, "What?" Blast Off says, "Long story." Blast Off says, "You'd think it was a horribly written cartoon episode or something." Windshear says, "That bad eh? ... Why doesnt Shockwave or Soundwave reprogram him?" Blast Off shrug. "Probably worried it'll make Bruticus even more stupid or something."